Hi, I have skoda octavia mk2 2011 station wagon 1.4tsi. My cigarette lighter is always on (battery powered) instead of ignition controlled power. I have couple of devices plugged into the cigarette lighter that stays on the whole time too. I want to change it to ignition controlled (On when ignition on, and off when ignition off).
P.S: I am very bad with electrical connections and wiring etc. An easy solution would be much appreciated. I am attaching my current fuse box setup too for reference.

As most cigarette lighter sockets are well within reach of the driver the easiest solution (as you are not electrically minded) is to unplug them when you leave the car.

The simplest solutions are usually the best. 😉

4 minutes ago, Sofo said:

As most cigarette lighter sockets are well within reach of the driver the easiest solution (as you are not electrically minded) is to unplug them when you leave the car.

The simplest solutions are usually the best. 😉

True and this is what I have been doing. But there has been couple of times when I forgot and the dash-cam stayed plugged in overnight. I would appreciate if you could advise some non-obvious solution.

On 01/09/2025 at 17:09, Sofo said:

As most cigarette lighter sockets are well within reach of the driver the easiest solution (as you are not electrically minded) is to unplug them when you leave the car.

The simplest solutions are usually the best. 😉

Or as I have done to allow car cam function, use a switched plug a lot easier than unplugging and easy to retro fit instead of the accessory plug.

Gives me the option of recording when away from thhe vehicle.

Do you have a multimeter, a pair of wire cutters, wire strippers and a crimp tool? If so, this is an easy mod…

Use your multimeter to find an unused slot in your fuse board that is ignition-switched. Put your meter into DC voltage mode, put the black probe against a metal part and put the red probe into the top half of each fuse slot. Turn the ignition on and off, and keep looking until you find one that only gives you 12V with the ignition on.

Plug a fuse tap into that unused slot. These are available from Halfords.

Remove the fuse from the cigarette lighter circuit, and insert the fuse into the “upper” slot in the fuse tap. The output wire from the fuse tap should now be an ignition-switched +12V. Test this with your multimeter.

Get a spade connector (also available from Halfords) and crimp one onto the end of the fuse tap’s output wire. Insert the spade into the lower part of the cigarette socket fuse slot. Your cigarette sockets are now receiving power from the ignition-switched circuit instead of the permanently powered circuit.

The cigarette lighter is fed from a 15 fuse (at least on the facelift estate - and same in the boot).

The reason why the cigarette lighter is both high power and always on is that it is used for tyre inflators etc.

So it is likely when choosing a switched fuse to tap that it will be smaller power source. Therefore I suggest your piggyback fuse is not the old one but a smaller current fuse to match your needs.

Nope, looking at the photos above, it’s clear that the cigarette socket(s) are fed from a 25A fuse in slot 24. There’s also a separate circuit in slot 26 labelled “12V”, and I’m betting that’s the one for the boot socket, same as my Superb.

I didn’t suggest piggybacking an existing fuse. I suggested putting a fuse tap into an unused slot and putting the cigarette lighters’ fuse into the upper slot of the fuse tap, leaving the lower slot of the tap empty. Thus the “new” cigarette lighter circuit will have exactly the same fuse capacity as the existing circuit, and there will still be no fuse connecting the contacts of the previously unused slot.

But in fact you can piggyback an existing fuse if you want. Just put the existing fuse into the lower slot of the fuse tap, and put the cigarette lighter fuse into the upper slot of the fuse tap. Then feed the fuse tap output into the bottom contact of the cigarette lighter slot using a spade. The cigarette sockets will still have the correct fuse capacity.

I’ve done this on my Superb, which also has a 25A fuse feeding the two cigarette sockets in the cabin (front and back). These I have made ignition-switched, but I have left the socket in the boot (which is on a separate circuit) unchanged so it is still permanent 12V. Looking at the fuse diagram in the photo above, it looks like the Octavia also has a separate circuit for the boot socket - the labels of fuses 24 & 26 are the same as my Superb. If I’m right, fuse 24 is the one the OP wants to change for the cabin socket(s), but I’d suggest leaving fuse 26 alone for the boot.

Edited 10 September, 202510 Sep by Dr_Mike_Oxgreen